South Africa’s Minister of Finance, Trevor Manuel, accused the European Union on Friday of keeping African farmers poor. He also questioned the moral leadership of the United States as he backed a British-led initiative to boost aid for Africa.
Manuel made the comments — notably questioning US priorities when Washington is spending billions on Iraq — as he joined a British minister in promoting plans being discussed at Group of Seven (G7) talks in London.
In particular, he criticised the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which maintains generous subsidies for farmers that the South African minister said only worsen the ”huge inequality” between Europe and Africa.
The result of the CAP is that ”farmers in Africa are not only incapable of competing for access to European markets, they can’t compete on price with agricultural produce from Europe”, he said.
”I’ve yet to meet a political leader in Europe face-to-face who can justify what is taking place. In the face of election and the perceived power of farmers to just create havoc, all resistance melts,” he said.
His criticism was backed by British Treasury Secretary Paul Boateng, who was in Brussels to promote London’s plans for debt relief and aid increase for Africa, being pushed at the G7 meeting in London from Friday.
”Our long-term goal is obviously to end the trade-distorting effects of the CAP … and to provide real improvements in market access,” he said, singling out the EU’s sugar regime, in particular, as ”completely unsustainable”.
The South African minister, meanwhile, questioned the morality of US policy.
”How do we live with the debate on how expensive aid is, when the US Congress found it fairly easy to vote $80-billion a year for a war?” he said, in reference to the costs of the Iraq conflict and its aftermath.
”How do we live with these kinds of issues? That is a moral imperative that speaks to the challenge of leadership,” he said.
Britain is seeking approval from the US for its grand plan to help alleviate poverty in Africa when G7 finance ministers meet in London on Friday and Saturday.
But US Treasury Secretary John Snow has pulled out of the meeting because of a chest cold, his office said on Thursday.
Manuel — whose country’s iconic former president Nelson Mandela is also in London for the talks — called on key countries, including the US, to do more.
”I now know that the US treasury secretary will not be at the meeting. But we have to continue to maintain the pressure. It’s the only chance we have,” he said.
On the eve of the talks, EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson said trade must be ”the third leg of the development triad”, and called for more coordination between EU member states in targeting aid.
”One can feel a gathering of international political will. This meeting of G7 finance ministers is a crucial milestone in mobilising aid and tackling debt,” he said.
He added that he is encouraged that ”European leaders are rallying behind proposals for new financing and debt-relief initiatives”.
”With a coherent package of WTO [World Trade Organisation], EU and G8 [Group of Eight] measures, I believe we can take the power of the global trade agenda and put it at the service of development … 2005 represents a once-in-a-generation chance for change,” he said. — Sapa-AFP